14 September 2005
Red lapu-lapu fishers violate provincial ordinance
ANDA – Mayor Nestor B. Pulido is fast earning the ire of barangayfolk here engaged in catching the expensive Red Lapulapu fish with compressors and cyanide, in violation of a provincial ordinance banning the use of such in catching fish.
Most of the affected and incensed fisherfolk are from barangay Batiarao, some 10 kilometers from the town proper, who have been caught by the Bantay Dagat crews and some people’s organizations while violating the provincial ordinance.
Batiarao, which faces barangay Lucap (gateway to the Hundred Islands in Alaminos City), has waters reportedly teeming with Red Lapulapu.
The fish specie, according to Pulido, is a delicacy well-liked by wealthy Chinese in Manila or even in Hongkong and China, who allegedly pay as much as P2,000 per kilo of the fish.
“What can I do? It is the law. I cannot just stand there and see the law violated right in my town!” Pulido said of the fishermen’s protests over his strict policy.
He explained that the use of cyanide in catching the costly fish will in turn destroy the marine corals in Anda’s navigational waters and fishing grounds. Corals, according to Pulido, are the specific areas where fish lay eggs and where fish grow after hatching.
“Fishermen who go after the Red Lapu – that’s how we call that fish here – use compressors when diving underwater in pursuit of the fish. It is there where they use cyanide on the Red Lapu once spotted. The cyanide merely stuns the Red Lapu and does not kill it, as there is a need to capture the Red Lapu alive,” Pulido said.
Chinese buyers will only pay the high price if the Red Lapulapu is caught fresh and alive, “They will not buy a dead one,” he explained.
Pulido said this has become the livelihood of many Batiarao fishers because of the good price it commands, especially when their Chinese buyers from Manila export the fish to Hongkong and the Chinese mainland.
According to the mayor, Batiarao folk argue that banning them from catching the Red Lapulapu virtually denies them their right to live.
“I can fully understand their predicament; but there is a law to be followed and numerous corals to protect so that other folks can earn legitimately and legally from these,” Pulido declared.
Anda has a fish sanctuary where fishing is banned within its 20 to 40 hectares of coverage. The town has four or five such sanctuaries which the mayor said must be preserved and kept from harm.
Most of the affected and incensed fisherfolk are from barangay Batiarao, some 10 kilometers from the town proper, who have been caught by the Bantay Dagat crews and some people’s organizations while violating the provincial ordinance.
Batiarao, which faces barangay Lucap (gateway to the Hundred Islands in Alaminos City), has waters reportedly teeming with Red Lapulapu.
The fish specie, according to Pulido, is a delicacy well-liked by wealthy Chinese in Manila or even in Hongkong and China, who allegedly pay as much as P2,000 per kilo of the fish.
“What can I do? It is the law. I cannot just stand there and see the law violated right in my town!” Pulido said of the fishermen’s protests over his strict policy.
He explained that the use of cyanide in catching the costly fish will in turn destroy the marine corals in Anda’s navigational waters and fishing grounds. Corals, according to Pulido, are the specific areas where fish lay eggs and where fish grow after hatching.
“Fishermen who go after the Red Lapu – that’s how we call that fish here – use compressors when diving underwater in pursuit of the fish. It is there where they use cyanide on the Red Lapu once spotted. The cyanide merely stuns the Red Lapu and does not kill it, as there is a need to capture the Red Lapu alive,” Pulido said.
Chinese buyers will only pay the high price if the Red Lapulapu is caught fresh and alive, “They will not buy a dead one,” he explained.
Pulido said this has become the livelihood of many Batiarao fishers because of the good price it commands, especially when their Chinese buyers from Manila export the fish to Hongkong and the Chinese mainland.
According to the mayor, Batiarao folk argue that banning them from catching the Red Lapulapu virtually denies them their right to live.
“I can fully understand their predicament; but there is a law to be followed and numerous corals to protect so that other folks can earn legitimately and legally from these,” Pulido declared.
Anda has a fish sanctuary where fishing is banned within its 20 to 40 hectares of coverage. The town has four or five such sanctuaries which the mayor said must be preserved and kept from harm.
